I have heard him often blame thofe, whofe irregular zeal, in the profeffion of religion, makes them to neglect their worldly bufinefs, and let the houfe drop through; the affairs of which the good man will order with difcretion. And he would tell fometimes of a religious woman, whose fault it was, and how he was convinced of it, by means of an intelligent godly neighbor; who coming into the houfe, and finding the good woman, far in the day, in her clofet, and the houfe fadly neglected, children not tended, fervants not minded; What (faid he) is there no fear of GOD in this houfe?' which much started and affected the good woman, that overheard him.

His greatest care, about the things of this world, was how to do good with what he had, and to devife liberal things; defiring to make no other acceffion to his eftate, but only that bleffing which attends beneficence. He did firmly believe (and it fhould feem few do) that what is given to the poor, is lent to the Lord, who will pay it again, in kind or in kindness; and that religion and piety is undoubtedly the best friend to outward profperity; and he found it lo; for it pleafed GOD abundantly to blefs his habitation, and to make a hedge about him, and about his houfe, and about all that he had: And though he did not delight himfelf in the abundance of wealth; yet (which is far better) he delighted himfelf in the abundance of peace, Pfalm xxxvii. 2. All that he had and did, obfervably profpered; fo that the country oftentimes took notice. of it, and called his family, a family which the Lord had bleffed.

And his comforts of that kind were (as he use to pray they might be) oil to the wheels of his obedience; and in the use of these things he ferved the Lord his GOD with joyfulness and gladnefs of heart, yet ftill mindful of, and grieved for the afflictions of Jofeph. He would fay fometimes, when in the midst of the comforts of this life, as a good man faid; "All this and heaven too! furely then

we ferve a good Mafter!" Thus did the Lord blefs him, and make him a bleffing; and this abundant grace, through the thanksgiving of many, redounded to the glory of GOD.

In the time of trouble and diftrefs, by the Conventical A&t, in 1670, he kept private, and stirred but little abroad, as lothe to offend thofe that were in power, and judging it prudence to gather in his fails, when the ftorm was viojent He then obferved, as that which he was troubled at; That there was a great deal of precious time loft among "profeffors

"profeffors, when they came together, in difcourfing "of their adventures, and their efcapes, which he feared "tended more to fet up SELF, than to give glory to "GOD: Also in telling, how they got together, and that "fuch a one preached, but little inquiring, what fpiritual "benefit and advantage was reaped by it; and that we are apt to make the circumftances of our religious fervices "more the matter of our discourse, than the substance of "them." He took all occafions to mention this as his fettled principle. "In thofe things wherein all the people "of GOD are agreed, I will spend my zeal; and wherein "they differ, I will endeavor to walk according to the "light that GOD hath given me, and charitably believe, "that others do fo too."

Whatever lectures were fet up in the country round, it was ftill defired that Mr. Henry would begin them (which was thought no fmall encouragement to those who were to carry them on); and very happy he was, both in the choice and in the management of his fubjects at fuch opportunities, feeking to find out acceptable words. Take one fpecimen of his addrefs, when he began a lecture with a fermon, on Heb. xii. 15. "I affure you (faith he) and "GOD is my witnefs; I am not come to preach, either

fedition against the peace of the state, or fchifm against "the peace of the church, by perfuading you to this or "to that opinion or party; but as a minifter of Christ, "that hath received mercy from the Lord, to desire to

be faithful: My errand is to exhort you to all poffible "seriousness, in the great business of your eternal falva"tion, according to my text, which if the Lord will "make as profitable to you, as it is material, and of "weight in itself; neither you nor I fhall have caufe to "repent our coming hither, and our meeting to-day; "looking diligently, left any of you fail of the grace of GOD. "If it were the last fermon I were to preach, I fhould "not know how to take my aim better to do you good."

In doing of this work, he often faid, that he looked upon himself, but as an affiftant to the parish minifters, in promoting the common interefts of Chriff's kingdom, and the common falvation of precious fouls, by the explication and application of thofe great truths, wherein we are all agreed. And he would compare the cafe to that in Hezekiah's time, when the Levites helped the priests to kill the facrifice, which was fomething of an irregularity, but the exigence of affairs called for it; the priests being too few, and fome of them not fo careful, as they should

have been, to sanctify themselves; fee 2 Chron. xxix. 34. And wherever he preached, he ufually prayed for the parifh minifter, and for a bleffing upon his miniftry. He has often faid, how well pleafed he was, when, after he had preached at Ofweftry, he went to vifit the minister of the place, Mr. Edwards, a worthy good man, and told him, "He had been fowing a handful of feed among his people," and had this anfwer; That's well; the Lord profper your feed and mine too; there's need enough of us both.'

Whenever he preached of moral duties, he would always have fomething of Chrift in his fermon; either his LIFE, as the great pattern of the duty; or his LOVE, as the great motive to it; or his MERIT, as making atonement for the neglect of it.

Some have wondered to fee how courteously and friendly he would speak to fuch, as had been any way injurious to him, when he met with them; being as industrious to difcover his forgiving of wrongs, as fome are to discover their refentments of them. It was faid of archbishop Cranmer, that the way to have him one's friend, was to do him a diskindness; and I am fure, it might be faid of Mr. Henry, that doing him a difkindness would not make him one's enemy. This reminds me of an exemplary pasfage, concerning his worthy friend, Mr. Edward Lawrence, once going, with fome of his fons, by the houfe of a gentleman that had been injurious to him; he gave a charge to his fons to this purpofe; "That they should never "think or fpeak amifs of that gentleman, for the fake "of any thing he had done against him; but whenever "they went by his houfe fhould lift up their hearts in prayer to GOD for him and his family."

It was not without fome fear and trembling, that Mr. Henry received the tidings of the Prince of Orange's landing, in November 1688, as being fomewhat in the dark concerning the clearnefs of his call, and dreading what might be the confequence of it. He ufed to fay; that Give peace in our time, O Lord, was a prayer which he could heartily fet his amen to. But when fecret things were brought to light, and a regular courfe was taken to fill the vacant throne with fuch a king and fuch a queen; none rejoiced in it more heartily than he did. He celebrated the national thanksgiving for that great deliverance with an excellent fermon on that text, Rom. viii. 31. What Shall we then fay to these things? If GOD be for us, who can be against us?

Soon

Soon after that happy fettlement, there were overtures made towards a comprehenfion of the moderate diffenters with the church of England, which Mr. Henry most heartily defired and wifhed for, if it could be had upon any terms less than finning againft his confcience; for never was any more averfe to that which looked like a feparation than he was, if he could poffibly have helped it, falva confcientia. His prayers were conftant, and his endeavors, as he had opportunity, that there might be fome healing methods found out and agreed upon.

In June, 1689, the Act of Indulgence paffed, which not only tolerated, but allowed the diffenters' meetings, and took them under the protection of the government. Soon after which, though he never in the leaft changed his judgement, as to the lawfulness of joining in the commonprayer, but was ftill ready to do it occafionally; yet the minifters, that preached at Whitewell-Chapel, being often uncertain in their coming, which kept his meeting at Broad-Oak at like uncertainties, to the frequent difappointments of his hearers that came from far; he was at laft prevailed with to preach at public time every Lord's day, which he continued to do as long as he lived, much to his own fatisfaction, and to the fatisfaction of his friends.

Sometimes he had fuch with him, as had gone through their courfe of learning at private academies, and defired to fpend fome time in his family, before their entrance upon the ministry; that they might have the benefit, not only of his public and family inftructions, but of his learned and pious converfation; in which, as he was thoroughly furnished for every good word and work, fo he was very free and communicative. The great thing, which he ufed to prefs upon thofe who intended the miniftry, was to fiudy the fcriptures, and make them fainiliar. Bonus textuarius eft bonus theologus, was a maxim he often minded them of. For this purpose, he recommended to them the ftudy of the Hebrew, that they might be able to fearch the fcriptures in the original. He also advised them to the ufe of an interleaved bible, wherein to infert fuch expofitions and obfervations, as occur occafionally in fermons or other books; which, he would fay, are more happy and confiderable fometimes, than thofe that are found in the profeffed commentators.

In the time of his health, he made death very familiar to himfelf, by frequent and pleafing thoughts and meditations of it; and endeavored to make it fo to his friends,

by

by fpeaking often of it. His letters and difcourfes had fill fomething or other, which spoke his conftant expectations of death; thus did he learn to die daily: And it is hard to fay, whether it was more eafy for him to fpeak, or uneafy to his friends to hear him fpeak, of leaving the world. This reminds me of a paffage I was told by a worthy Scotch minifter, Mr. Patrick Adair, that vifiting the famous Mr. Durham, of Glasgow, in his laft fickness, which was long and lingering; he faid to him, Sir, Í hope you have fo fet all in order, that you have nothing elfe to do but to die.' I blefs GOD (faid Mr. • Durham) I have not had that to do neither, thefe many years. Such is the comfort of dying daily, when we come to die indeed.

Mr. Henry's conftitution was but tender, and yet, by the bleffing of GOD upon his great temperance, and care of his diet, and moderate exercife by walking in the air, he did for many years enjoy a good measure of health, which he used to call "the fugar that fweetens all tem"poral mercies, for which therefore we ought to be very thankful, and of which we ought to be very care"ful." He had fometimes violent fits of the cholic, which would be very afflictive for the time. Towards his latter end, he was diftreffed fometimes with a pain, which his doctor thought might arife from a ftone in his kidnevs. Being once upon a recovery from an ill fit of that pain, he faid to one of his friends, that afked him how he did, he hoped by the grace of GOD, he fhould now "be able to give one blow more to the devil's kingdom ;” and often profeffed he did not "defire to live a day longer, "than he might do GOD fome fervice." He faid to another, when he perceived himfelf recovering; "Well, I "thought I had been putting into the harbor, but find "I must put out to fea again."

He was fometimes fuddenly taken with fainting fits, which when he recovered from, he would fay, "dying is "but a little more." When he was in the fixty-third year of his age, which is commonly called the grand climacteric, and hath been to many their dying year, and was fo to his father; he numbered the days of it, from August the 24th, 1693, to Auguft the 24th, 1694, when he finished it: And when he concluded it, he thus wrote in his Diary; "This day finished my commonly dying year, which I have numbered the days of; and should now apply my heart more than ever to heavenly wif "dom." He was much pleafed with that expreffion of

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